


Born in Fire

by rhiaofthemyscira



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Keith character exploration, S5 spoilers, keith's thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 03:10:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13848822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhiaofthemyscira/pseuds/rhiaofthemyscira
Summary: His father always told him that he was born with fire in his eyes and a fight in his heart.A little character exploration for Keith and why he makes the decisions he does. Contains s5 spoilers.





	Born in Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I just have a lot of feelings about Keith. And this last season did not help with the severe lack of Keith and acknowledgement that he was not a part of Voltron anymore.

His father always told him that he was born with fire in his eyes and a fight in his heart. His own wellbeing was never a concern, it was only the cause that mattered. It’s not like anyone would miss him anyway, his own mother didn’t even want him. She made that very clear when she abandoned him as a baby.

When the garrison told him that the Kerberos mission crashed due to pilot error, Shiro’s error, he knew they were lying. His own piloting career be damned, Keith was going to find out the truth. Everyone made a big deal about him getting kicked out of the Garrison, but honestly Keith couldn’t care less, he had a new mission now: find Shiro and figure out what this pull towards the desert signifies.

For nearly a year he toiled in the desert sands uncovering strange lion markings and feeling the call grow louder and louder until it hummed in every fiber of his being. It was all leading up to the day his world shattered and reassembled into something he could never have imagined.

Voltron.

Within a matter of hours he went from a lonely dropout to a defender of the universe. He had a new mission in his place as the right hand of Voltron. What could be more important that that? Keith just couldn’t understand why the others couldn’t see always see it. Why did some of them want to leave? Sacrifices must always be made for the good of the mission. The mission is all that matters.

At last his life had meaning, a true purpose that he could devote his live to serving. He loved his position in the Red Lion, he felt at home in the pilot’s seat at the front lines in the fight to save the universe. This was where he belonged. He even had Shiro back, fighting side by side with his oldest friend and mentor was a dream come true. He had a cause and he had a new family, a little ragtag and rough around the edges, but his.

But like everything in his life, nothing good lasted long. His perception of belonging was thrown out the window when he awoke the Blade. Suddenly some of the frame work puzzle pieces of his life fit together while others, that had forced to fit along the way, began to spring apart. He is part Galra, part of the enemy. Looking back, that was the beginning of the end.

Shiro was gone again. And they looked to Keith for answers. Shiro believed that he would be the successor to the Black Lion but Keith wasn’t ready, Voltron wasn’t ready. Why would anyone listen to him? He was the hotheaded strike fighter of Voltron not the level headed leader. But the mission comes first and the universe needs Voltron, even if that means Keith in the Black Lion.

As the head of Voltron Keith was met with resistance at every corner. The others just couldn’t keep up with his single minded focus on the mission. All of his decisions were questioned and it seemed that while they needed him to pilot Black they didn’t want him to. So when Shiro came back, Keith tried to do everything he can to give him the lion back.

The longer Keith stayed the castle the more he knows that he doesn’t really belong. He supposed it makes sense, he is part Galra after all. He really shouldn’t be surprised anymore, everyone leaves him eventually. So when the Blade of Marmora called for help, he knew it was time to jump ship. Voltron didn’t need 6 paladins, it didn’t need Keith.

So he left with the Blade. Here at least everyone seemed to share Keith’s mindset, the mission is more important than any one member. The knowledge must be attained at all costs, perhaps it was a Galra mindset and that’s why Keith never seemed to be able to fit in with Earthlings. As the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, the familiar numbness returned. A numbness he thought he left behind on Earth. Nobody really needed him. Sure they needed soldiers but they didn’t need _Keith_. His purpose was to complete the mission, nothing more. He was just another pawn in a 10,000 year long war. And that was ok with Keith, at least he was being useful and fighting for a just cause.

He knew he made the right choice to join the Blade, no one noticed his absence on team Voltron. They didn’t feel the hole in the team the way they did when Shiro was missing or they would have missed Lance or Allura. Keith is replaceable.

So when the time came for Keith to choose between himself and Voltron, there was no doubt in his mind. Voltron is more important that his own life, than any of their lives, so without hesitation he turned his ship towards the shield and pushed full throttle to his own demise.

Miraculously, he lived. Lotor showed up to help them defeat the witch and Keith lived to fight another day.

But nothing really changed, Kolivan didn’t even blink an eye when he found out what Keith almost did. Any member of the Blade would have done the same. There was no point in telling team Voltron what happened because Keith was no longer their concern.

So life continued on as it had been before Lotor joined their ranks. Keith went on missions with the Blade and no one even tried to check in on him. It hurt at first but then the disappointment faded because, really? What was Keith expecting? Someone to care?

               And then Lotor did it, Zarkon was dead and it was time for the most important mission yet – take out all the remaining Galra leaders. They had one job, place the bombs and get off the planet. Keith was ready, this mission could have been a tipping point in the war. But then the Black Lion landed at the ceremony and all of Keith’s plans went out the window. He knew as a Blade member he should have just continued with the mission and not let personal feelings get in the way, but it was Shiro. He couldn’t leave him to die. So he stayed, saved Lotor and then disappeared. No use waiting for Voltron to show up, his job was done.

               Their work was never compete, even after destroying much of Galra high command there were sill pieces to be cleaned up. His latest mission? To retrieve a Blade spy and secure a powerful weapon. It was routine, infiltrate and extract. He had done tons of these types of missions in the past months. But then everything changed when he found the one person he never thought he would, the first person to abandon him, his mom.

**Author's Note:**

> If you also have feelings about Keith come scream with me on twitter at firelordkeef


End file.
